Date with Argyles - Friday, April 2, 2010

Where did Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday go? Unbelievable! It's already Friday, and Good Friday at that. Easter is a big deal down here and the holiday is celebrated for at least three days. So, businesses close down on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Today we shouldn't have as many phone calls, and no correo deliveries at the gate.

Getting ready for the day went smoothly at home. Yesterday the forecast had a 60% chance of rain for today, but that changed overnight. It was going to be sunny, but not too hot. That sounded good to us.

It was our turn today to give an Easter treat to the elders. We bought them chocolate bunnies on a stick at the Convent. They seemed pleased. So pleased that . . .

They wanted to eat them right away. We were anxious to find out if the chocolate that the convent made tasted very good. They confirmed that it was worth eating. But then elders will eat anything.

Elder Peterson has been working with Elder Coria learning what goes on at his desk, and now he is going to be trained on Elder Hales' desk and help out with the viviendas (apartments). They got right to it and since that desk works closely with the Financial Secretary because of the rents and utilities that are paid on the apartments, Elder Kroff was involved with them for most of the day explaining to Elder Peterson how his responsiblities tie in. I just tune them out because they talk in Spanish.

I get until the 6th of April to get all the baptisms that took place in March into the computer. So this is when I really become a pain in the neck to some missionaries, well -- only to the delinquent ones that owe me a baptismal register. I never speak harshly to them, just give firm, gentle reminders that the time has arrived and I can wait no longer. So today, the last of them came over the fax, but I have questions on two of them. I will call for clarification on Monday, and get them sent off. I entered 30 this week.

Around the noon hour, President and Sister Argyle and Austin came. The President came to pick up his car, but he did stay a while to talk to the elders and sign some welcome letters for the new missionaries binders. Rich also had a check for him to sign. It was nice to see them. Sister Argyle and Austin dropped the President off and then went to do errands.

I worked on my carpetas in the afternoon and feel confident that I can complete them next week. We have 12 new missionaries arriving on April 20. There are three Americans, and nine Latinos. Only four are going home and they are all Latinos.

When we got home from work, we decided to go to Disco and pick up a few things we need. We will be having Sunday dinner at the Area Offices with the other senior couples in between conference sessions, and I am to take a potato salad. Then we were going to go to McDonald's for the usual. While in Disco, Sister Argyle called Rich and invited us to go to the Unicenter with them because she wanted to go to the Apple store and look at computers, and wanted Rich along for his input. Well, you don't have to ask twice on that one. He immediately said we would love to go. They said that we could eat at the food court in the mall after shopping. They would pick us up in a half hour.

Luckily the store was not crowded and the lines not long. We hustled through and stepped up our pace in walking back home -- getting there in plenty of time before they came by to pick us up.

Sister Argyle is quite up on computer technology and she can see how easy it is with our Mac computer to do multimedia stuff. Having worked with Rich on her DVD project, he knew she would become converted someday. She wanted to see what was out there and when we got to the store, Rich gave her a detailed lesson on what the computer can do. They played around on a big screen one, and the President could feel his wallet getting lighter. He was so funny. He is a businessman and knows spread sheets and things like that on a computer, but has no clue about the multi media end of it. He said he would expect a younger person to know all about it, but was sort of embarrassed that he was learning from someone older than him. He was impressed with all of Rich's knowledge and understanding of the Mac computer. Sister Argyle probably will wait until they get home to buy one.

The Unicenter was packed with people tonight. The food court was unreal! Sister Argyle said it was because it was a Friday night and the Easter weekend. We have been there on a Friday night before, and it was never like this. In fact the last time we were at the Unicenter, Elder Kroff was on crutches when he tore his meniscus and before surgery. So that was last July. Being without a car has really curtailed our mall trips. We had some dinner and then sat and visited for while.

We enjoyed our outing with them and they said we would have to do it again sometime. Gosh, they only have three months left in the mission. Hate to think about it!

We came home and while I was boiling some potatoes for my salad, I worked on yesterday's entry. The night with the loss of electricity made me get behind.